OFFBEAT MAIL

Relatives and allies of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are overjoyed over the Philippine government's move that finally paved the way for the approval of the frameworks that created the Bangsamoro State in Mindanao. While the moros are celebrating the success of this peace agreement, I'm sure some sectors of the Philippine society are a bit lukewarm to the idea of setting up another autonomous government in place of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which, in essence, was the same set up except for the officials that will run the Bangsamoro government. To many Moros in Mindanao, the creation of the Bangsamoro State was a crowning glory. But to most Filipinos, the junking of the ARMM was nothing but an insult to the time, efforts and money that were spent to seal off the Tripoli Agreement. I don't want to explore further into the nitty gritty on how the Tripoli Agreement was reached that led to the creation of the ARMM. But surely it was meant t

Economic growth in the East Asia and Pacific region may slow down by a full percentage point from 8.2 percent in 2011 to 7.2 percent this year, before recovering to 7.6 percent in 2013. Growth in developed countries will remain modest, with recovery in the region to be driven mainly by strong domestic demand in developing countries, said the World Bank in its East Asia and Pacific Economic Data Monitor, released today. The new report says that weak exports and lower investment growth will cut down China's GDP growth from 9.2 percent in 2011 to 7.7 percent this year. In 2013, however, China's growth is expected to rebound to 8.1 percent as the impact of stimulus measures kicks in, supported further by an uptick in global trade. "The East Asia and Pacific region's share in the global economy has tripled in the last two decades, from 6 percent to almost 18 percent today, which underscores the critical importance of this region's continued growth for the rest of the wo